2of2Students pass in front of the Campanile on the Cal campus in Berkeley in 2016.Photo: Michael Short / Special To The Chronicle

SACRAMENTO — California would be the first state to mandate that public universities offer their students medical abortions — pills that women take to end pregnancies — under a bill the Legislature approved and sent to Gov. Jerry Brown.

The Senate passed the bill Thursday by 26-13, one day after the Assembly approved it on a 52-25 vote.

SB320 by Sen. Connie Leyva, D-Chino (San Bernardino County), would require health centers at the University of California and California State University campuses to offer medical abortions to students starting in 2022.

“By providing medical abortion on campus, it would help ensure that students can focus on their future without the added financial and logistical barriers of seeking reproductive care off campus,” Leyva said. “Most women who get pregnant will not choose to terminate their pregnancy, but for women who do, SB320 aims to eliminate the barriers to access.”

The bill applies only to medical abortions, not surgical ones. Medical abortions involve taking two pills over two days during a woman’s first 10 weeks of pregnancy to induce a miscarriage. A medical abortion is different from the morning-after pill, which is a high dose of a synthetic hormone found in birth control pills that delays or stops the release of an egg.

Abortion Rights

The morning-after pill is already distributed at many health centers throughout the country, including at UC campuses. Women may take that pill if they suspect they may become pregnant and don’t want to be, while a medical abortion will terminate a confirmed pregnancy.

Student health centers at public universities in California do not now offer abortions of any kind. Leyva and other supporters of her bill say that forces women who want to end a pregnancy to find off-campus facilities and pay hundreds of dollars out of pocket.

Private funding from groups including the Women’s Foundation of California and Tara Health Foundation is intended to help pay for staff training and after-hours services at UC and CSU campuses. The groups will provide grants of $200,000 to the public university systems and another $200,000 to each of their campuses.

Neither UC nor CSU has taken a position on the bill. However, both universities expressed concerns about the cost of implementing the measure if it becomes law. Brown’s office declined to comment Thursday on whether he will sign it.

Claire Doan, a UC spokeswoman, said that even with the funds pledged by private donors, the bill “does not provide adequate funding to support UC’s student health centers for medication abortion services on site,” and that there would be “a significant, ongoing impact on the UC budget, including student fees.” Security at student health centers would be among the expenses, she said.

CSU officials said it would be too expensive to provide the necessary medical equipment, train staff and care for students, including providing them with 24-hour phone support in the event of a medical emergency.

“As CSU doctors do not do inpatient care or have hospital admission privileges, campuses would need to establish agreements with local hospitals to accept students who experience complications from the medication,” said Mike Uhlenkamp, a CSU spokesman. “Each campus would also need to incur expenditures for additional safety improvements and liability insurance.”

The bill was opposed by antiabortion groups including Students for Life of America, which called the measure’s passage a “tragedy.”

“California politicians put the interests of the abortion industry ahead of the needs of both students and the colleges and universities with this shortsighted vote,” said Kristan Hawkins, the group’s president. “But this is not the end of our efforts to protect women from abortion industry attempts to infiltrate school health centers. Students for Life of America will work tirelessly to prevent this misguided effort from going to other states.”

The idea for the measure originated two years ago among students at UC Berkeley. On Thursday, one of the students who pushed for its passage applauded the Legislature’s action.

“I am tentatively very excited,” said Marandah Field-Elliot, who graduated in May and was among three students, including Adiba Khan and Meghan Warner, who proposed the bill and helped write it after their efforts to get UC Berkeley to provide the medication failed in 2016.

“At this point, there is one man (the governor) standing between hundreds of thousands of (people wanting) abortion access,” said Field-Elliot. “This bill was built by women. This campaign was built by women. It would feel like an incredible mistake ... to not let this bill become law.”

Field-Elliot said students are circulating a petition, calling Brown’s office and sending letters to urge him to sign the legislation.